BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 360
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 6, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                      AB 360 (Ma) - As Amended:  April 15, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              P.E.R. &  
          S.S.Vote:    4-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill encourages the California State Teachers' Retirement  
          System (CalSTRS) to conduct a study to examine the feasibility  
          of either creating a new program for part-time community college  
          instructors or modifying current programs to make retirement  
          benefits more equitable for part-time instructors.
           
          FISCAL EFFECT

           1)Minor costs to CalSTRS to conduct a feasibility study.

          2)Actual increases in retirement benefits for part time faculty  
            would result in major increases in CalSTRS fund liabilities,  
            and ultimately in the amount of community college  
            contributions to the fund.
           
          COMMENTS  : 

           1)Background  . California state law requires all public school  
            employers except for charter schools to provide the CalSTRS  
            Defined Benefit Program.  Retirement benefits for members are  
            based on years of service, final compensation, and age. To be  
            eligible to receive retirement benefits (to vest in the  
            system), members must accumulate the equivalent of at least  
            five years of full time service.

            Members accrue service credits based on the ratio of  
            compensation actually earned to the compensation that would be  
            earned if the member worked full-time in their position (a  
            full-time equivalent job). Thus, an instructor working  
            half-time would accumulate a half- year's service credit for  








                                                                  AB 360
                                                                  Page  2

            each year worked. 

           2)Rationale  . The bill is proposed by the author as a first step  
            toward ensuring that part time faculty members - who make up a  
            large share of community college instructors - receive an  
            equitable share of retirement benefits under the CalSTRS  
            program.  The author asserts that, because of the time they  
            must spend preparing for class and grading papers, these  
            individuals do not receive service credits that adequately  
            reflect the actual time they spend on the job. For these  
            workers, it can currently take many years to accumulate enough  
            years to vest in the retirement system.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081